Azernews.Az

By Nigar Orujova

"My relatives" documentary by Azerbaijani film director Rodion Ismayilov has won "The best anthropologic film" award at the eighth Open Russian Anthropological Film Festival (RAFF).

The festival, which is an international event of competing documentary anthropological films, was held in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg from April 15 to April 20. It featured documentary and other anthropological films created by directors from Russia and other countries.

The storyline of "My relatives" is based on the first visit by lead character Lolita to Azerbaijan. Lolita is a person who personifies two cultures, as her mother is Russian and her father is Azerbaijani.

This delicate and compelling story describes a ten-year-old girl who comes to Azerbaijan for the first time to be acquainted with her father's relatives. Lolita aspires to learn about the culture and traditions of her Azerbaijani family members.

The film of the DS FILM Production Center was made with the support of the Ministry of Culture of Russia in the Tovuz region of Azerbaijan. Camera operator of the film is Mikhail Gorobchuk, music was composed by Vladimir Kuptsov, and the producers are Rodion Ismayilov and Svetlana Dalskaya.

Ismayilov graduated from St. Petersburg State University of Cinema and Television in 1998.

In 1997, along with Alexander Bashirov, he established a studio and shot a feature film, "The Iron Heel of Oligarchy", which became a cult film once.

From 2000 to 2005, Ismayilov was the president of the St. Petersburg Foundation of Independent Cinema. Since 2009, he is the director and producer at the DS FILM Production Center.

The film is also shown at the international documentary film festival "Visions du Réel" ("The images of reality") being held in Nyon, Switzerland, on April 19-26.

The previous film by Ismayilov, called "Camping Ground", represented Azerbaijan in about 20 international festivals.

RAFF focuses on the concept of man in culture and culture in man. Its "art+science" formula unites filmmakers and researchers expressing by the language of film the peculiarity and diversity of cultural values, the important link between filmmakers and anthropologists of Russia and the whole world.

Films and videos of high value and quality reflecting human activities in social, historical or environmental context are accepted for competition screenings.